Here it is, the last days of the winter blahs: In most parts of the country, it is the season of bleak landscapes, of nature-in-waiting for brighter days. But in some cases, winter’s bleakness is only an illusion, self-induced by our tendency to overlook the beauty in the obvious, the everyday. For example, take a closer look at trees — no, not at what’s not there (leaves, fruit, flowers and seeds), but at the natural wonder that cradles, nourishes and protects every tree throughout its lifetime: bark.

Stand in a winter woodlot and look around, and at first glance you’ll notice not much more variety than subtle differences in shades of gray and brown. But if you move closer and spend some time examining each tree, you’ll discover an astounding diversity of bark patterns and textures: rough or silky smooth, thick or thin plated, furrowed or peeling, wavy or straight lined, ribbed or ridged, cracked or bumpy.

Furthermore, there are exceptions to the notion that tree bark isn’t showy or colorful. Some trees have emphatically bright-hued barks that stand out in the landscape: the white-lined, emerald-green bark of the striped maple; the striking metallic sheen of the yellow birch; the startlingly ivory, black-scribed trunk of the white birch.

That diversity, in fact, is not only astounding, but confounding. Not even botanists can consistently rely on bark alone to identify a tree’s species. In some cases, a positive identification is simple enough, because the bark is truly distinctive or unique: shagbark hickory’s long, peeling, shedding strips; the sycamore’s light-green, gray and brown exfoliated patches. In other cases, bark can help you distinguish one broad category from another — a maple from a birch, for instance. But identifying exactly which species of maple or birch on the basis of bark alone can be a different matter.

What’s more, from a tree’s days as a young sprout to its demise from old age, disease, mishap or the hand of man, its bark changes many times. Some of those changes are mere matters of maturation; as the tree grows older, its bark may become lighter or darker, thicker or rougher, or more distinctively patterned. But a tree’s bark is also influenced by outside forces unique to that particular plant’s lifetime: the soil in which it grows; the moisture it receives; the amount of wind and sun exposure; the overall climate; the animals, insects, fungi and other flora that feed or live upon it.

So it is that, after a few years, the bark of every individual tree, though sharing basic botanic characteristics with others of its species, is as unique as a fingerprint.

Share your own outdoor ideas for fighting the winter blues by posting a comment below. For more on the diversity of tree bark and its many uses, see “Bark is Beautiful,” in the February/March 2006 issue of Mother Earth News.